Why Am I Struggling with Algebra 2 in College?

[LinuxMicrosoftMCSA]

Hi,
I'm currently having trouble getting past Algebra 2 at my college. I got local credit in Algebra 2 in high school. My current college major is Chemistry with an emphasis on materials science/engineering. I obviously need Calculus 3 and differential equations and my ultimate roadblock is Algebra 2. I just printed a formula sheet for Algebra 2 that I found online. I'm not sure if it's the tutors or the professor just grades harshly or whatever, but I'm having trouble getting past Algebra 2. Does anyone know any good study methods for math?
Thank you.

 

[osilmag]

Initially review the topic you are having trouble with, and then practice, practice, and some more practice until you can use it with ease.

 

[symbolipoint]

Hi,
I'm currently having trouble getting past Algebra 2 at my college. I got local credit in Algebra 2 in high school. My current college major is Chemistry with an emphasis on materials science/engineering. I obviously need Calculus 3 and differential equations and my ultimate roadblock is Algebra 2. I just printed a formula sheet for Algebra 2 that I found online. I'm not sure if it's the tutors or the professor just grades harshly or whatever, but I'm having trouble getting past Algebra 2. Does anyone know any good study methods for math?
Thank you.

What kind of evaluation of local credit? You learned? You tried very hard? Grade of C or better, or not?
You, the student, know what you need or needed after going through the course. Your teacher may evaluate your work as best he can but only the student yourself can best understand what you learned well , what you did not learn well, and have a strong hint as to why. Understand, the material is new to you after having previously gone through only Algebra 1 in high school . When you have the course a second time, you WILL learn better, unless you are just not giving the effort. Algebra 2 is not at all your roadblock. You already learned it. Now is the time to learn it better.

Best material for your own reenforcement and review is find whatever book (one or two of them) that you believe is most thorough, or has all the topics that YOU need for YOUR course. Your own book as assigned might be fine or better than fine. A suggestion of authors of possibly older, but still excellent Algebra2 books may be Wright & New; Larson & Edwards; Gilbert & Perez; Aufman, Barker & Nation; and other members may have other suggestions.

Initially review the topic you are having trouble with, and then practice, practice, and some more practice until you have it memorized.

That is good advice, but is understood as already taken care of, since you already studied the course in high school. You are now in it for the second time; remember?Just what kind of trouble are you having? Can you determine if your college's course called Algebra 2 is equivalent to the one you had in high school? Are you now being assigned much more theoretical exercises than you were in high school Algebra 2? are you now being assigned much more applications exercises than you were in the high school Algebra 2? Is you teacher allowing much for partial credit, or is this kind of evaluating being highly restricted?

 

[Mark44]

Initially review the topic you are having trouble with, and then practice, practice, and some more practice until you have it memorized.

I agree with the advice to practice, but not the conclusion. I would advise practicing until you understand the concept, not just have it memorized. With understanding, you can apply the concept in similar but not identical situations. With just memorization, if the scenario changes, even only slightly, one might not know how to deal with the new situation.

 

[vela]

I'm not sure if it's the tutors or the professor just grades harshly or whatever, but I'm having trouble getting past Algebra 2.

Have you asked the professor about what you're doing wrong? The grading might seem harsher because the expectations are higher. What was good enough for high school is rarely good enough in college.

One thing you might also think about is that it's not enough to understand the material, but you need to be able to demonstrate that you understand the material to the grader. You need to use correct notation; you need to avoid careless errors; you need to organize your work logically and neatly; etc.

 

[symbolipoint]

One thing you might also think about is that it's not enough to understand the material, but you need to be able to demonstrate that you understand the material to the grader. You need to use correct notation; you need to avoid careless errors; you need to organize your work logically and neatly; etc.

Good Point, but the same expectations (should) also be in the high school course of Algebra 2. The teacher there still must evaluate students' written work, both for homework and for in-class assessments, so proper notation, organized solution process and necessary steps must still be used and shown. Let's hope that the comparison of the course between high school and college has not become old-fashioned.

Maybe the grading assessment schemes are more strict in college? Hard to say, owing to the fact that repeated study of the same course expectedly leads to improved learning of that course's material.